A Rose Is
by RaydorCakes
Summary: So far we know the title for 4x01 is "A Rose is a Rose" so I took the opportunity to dabble with Shandy!


_A/N: So far we know that episode 4x01 is titled "A Rose is a Rose." I just thought maybe a little fanfic was in order ;) This is my first attempt at writing a case, so I apologize if it is subpar._

~oOo~

Sharon walks quickly into the Murder Room, her heels tapping loudly with each step, "Come on, let's go, we have a case." She orders as she heads to her office and drops her bags, stopping quickly in the doorway to do a double-take, "Sometime today?"

An echo of "Yes Captain"'s fills the room as they all walk briskly towards the elevator.

~oOo~

The victim is a man in his thirties with black hair, found drowned in the YMCA swimming pool.

"Well, I'm not going in _there_." Provenza grumbles, rolling his eyes as he walks around the pool, "Are there _any_ witnesses?" He throws his hands up in the air in frustration.

"Don't have a heart attack there old man." Andy teases, only infuriating Provenza more.

"Yeah, _you_ should be talking." He shoots back before storming over to the Captain, "What exactly do you expect us to do here?"

"Well Lieutenant, I'd expect you to investigate a homicide." She replies, sounding as she had in her FID days, "This man is deceased and it is our job to investigate it."

"Poor fool could have drowned himself!" He argues, his frustration rising with every breath, "God knows I'm about to!"

"Lieutenant is there something going on that I should know about?" She asks, concern in her voice.

"No, no." He waves his hand, "Just Flynn, that man is a headache. He's up to no good. _Again_." At the sound of his name Andy smiles and waves from across the pool, Sharon reciprocating the gesture.

~oOo~

CSU eventually retrieves the body, loads it in the coroner's van, and sends it to the morgue, where Sharon and Andy stand with Dr. Morales as he inspects the body.

"Poor guy." Morales sighs, opening the victim's mouth and pressing under his chin, "It doesn't look like he was drowned by anyone. There's no bruising around the neck, no scratches, I'd say maybe your guy just fell in."

"But there had to be other people there." Andy suggests, raising one hand in the air for emphasis, "It's a YMCA."

"I'll see what I can find." Morales shrugs, turning the victim over and examining his back, "I'll see you two later." He teases as they walk away, both of them blushing furiously.

~oOo~

"What do we know about the victim?" Sharon asks, crossing her legs and leaning back against Andy's desk.

"Victim is Austin McDuffy, age 32." Tao puts the victim's picture on the whiteboard, "Single, no girlfriend that we know of, parents live in Minnesota."

"Are any of his friends or coworkers known offenders?"

"Actually," Andy smiles when he sees her occupying his desk, "his roommate was nailed for a robbery in 2013. Police suspected someone else was involved but they never found any evidence."

"Where is the roommate now?" She asks, walking over and taking the files from his hands.

"We're working on that. He got out of prison last week. Last know address was with McDuffy."

"Andy what was stolen?"

"What? Oh, uhm, it looks like some jewelry, mostly diamonds. Two bracelets and a necklace."

"Thank you." She smiles, "Keep up the good work everyone."

~oOo~

Sharon is sitting at her desk flipping through the files she had taken from Andy,when she lets out a sigh and spins in her chair, stopping to look out the window and at the beautiful vase of roses that had appeared some days earlier. Each day for the past week, a rose had miraculously been added to the arrangement, leaving her with twelve roses, all of varying colors. She removes one from the vase and closes her eyes, sniffing it as a smile creeps across her face. She wanted to know who had sent her the roses, and to thank them for their kindness, but who? Sharon gets up from her desk and walks to the large glass-pane window, pulling back two of the blinds with a finger and glancing out into the murder room, Andy sending her a goofy grin. She ignores him and continues to peer around from behind the glass, never once losing her Darth Raydor expression. Andy walks up to the other side of the window and sticks his bottom lip out in a pout, pressing his hand against the glass.

"Can I help you?" She asks after opening the door.

"Hm? No." Andy shrugs, "But it's almost 1:30, do you, maybe, want to get lunch?"

"I don't know." She purses her lips and crosses her arms over her chest, propping herself in the doorway, "I'm awfully busy."

"We all are, but you need to eat."

"Tell Taylor that." She scoffs, "Besides, we just started our investigation."

"Alright, I'll-I'll just get take out then?"

"No, no no." She mumbles, stepping out of her office and pulling the door shut, "Let's see how far we get on the investigation. Maybe dinner?"

"Sure." She smiles at him, overjoyed by his happiness.

"Captain I've got something." Sykes calls from across the room, "McDuffy's roommate, Connor Benefield is staying at a hotel in downtown L.A.. Should I go get him?"

"No." Sharon shrugs, "I'll send uniformed officers, let's keep working here."

"Alright, Captain."

~oOo~

"Mr. Benefield, my name is Lieutenant Flynn and this is Captain Raydor."

"Hi." He nods and shakes each of their hands before sitting down, "What's this about?"

"Your old roommate, Austin McDuffy," Sharon begins, resting her hands on the table, "Do you know if he could swim?"

"Yeah. We used to swim in the creek near the apartment, why?"

"Your friend was found dead earlier today. Drowned in a pool." Flynn answers, standing up and leaning against the table.

"Wow." Connor replies, running a hand down his face, "Wow."

"Do you know anyone that would have wanted to hurt him?"

"No." He sighs and shakes his head.

"What about the robbery you were involved in?" Flynn asks as Sharon places the photos of the missing jewelry in front of him.

"I didn't steal no jewelry." He replies starkly, his dark brown hair falling over his eyes, "Got sent to the big house for it too."

"We know." Sharon tries not to smile at herself, "Then where'd the jewelry go?"

"I don't know." He answers frustratedly, beginning to bounce his leg up and down rapidly, "I never took it."

"Did Austin?" Flynn asks, finally taking his seat aside of Raydor.

"I don't know."

"Well was he there with you?" She can't hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Yeah." He sighs, "Idiot."

There is a knock on the one-way glass and Sharon quickly stands up and walks out of interrogation.

~oOo~

"Dr. Morales." She feigns happiness at his sudden appearance.

"Captain Raydor." He smiles, opening a file in his hands, "I found something."

"Really?" She asks, suddenly less irritated by his presence, "What is it?"

"Your vic was drugged. I found trace amounts of chemically synthesized insulin in his blood stream. He was injected with the stuff, more than enough to kill him. I'm guessing the pool was just a bonus."

"Thank you." She flashes a genuine smile and taps his shoulder before calling Andy out of interrogation.

~oOo~

"What do you mean?" He raises his voice just above a whisper, standing close enough to Sharon that it comes off as a yell, "The guy was injected, passed out, fell in the pool and drowned?"

"I think so." She replies, placing her hand over her mouth, "My mom's friend was diabetic. He had to take insulin and I remember one time he took too much by accident and just passed out."

"Well are any of Prince Charming's friends or family diabetic?" Flynn asks, motioning to interrogation with his hand.

"I don't know. I have Sanchez on it. Let's get back in there."

"Yeah." He huffs, "Sharon?"

"Hm?"

"Is CSU done at the victim's apartment yet? I have a feeling we'll find the jewelry there."

~oOo~

"Let me get this straight," Flynn begins, frustration clear in his voice, "You and your buddy were shooting up with a drug you knew could have killed you?"

"Yeah. We used to do it before I got locked up. I know it's stupid but we liked it."

"Yeah well that's what killed him." Flynn says angrily, "Now stand up."

"No way man what the hell? He shot himself up!"

"And you supplied him with the drugs, congratulations now stand up you just confessed to murder."

"You have the right to remain silent," Sharon begins, following them out and giving Andy a victory pat on the shoulder, "Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law."

~oOo~

"I just don't get it." Andy manages to say through a mouthful of spaghetti, "They knew it could've killed them but they did it anyways."

"Andy, we've both been there." Sharon sighs and sips her wine, a reminiscent look on her face.

'But we got through it." Sharon breaks into a fit of laughter when Andy tries to slurp a noodle, sauce splashing all over his face.

"Here, Andy!" She laughs as she reaches across the table and attempts to clean his face off, he bobs his head back and forth much to her distress.

"Maybe we're not totally through it!" He chuckles, "You look like you're gonna kill me but I keep pushing!"

"I need to go freshen up!" She manages to say as she gets up and walks towards the restroom, knowing a few minutes away from Andy would be the only way for her to compose herself.

~oOo~

"Wow I really did make a mess." Andy chuckles to himself, throwing the second saucy napkin with the first at the end of the table, "No wonder she couldn't stop laughing."

He shakes his head and stands up, walking to Sharon's side of the booth and carefully reaching into his jacket pocket. He sits a dark red rose on the seat and walks back to his side of the table, grinning at his handiwork.

"Andy... it's you?" She asks completely dumbfounded, still standing and holding the rose in her hand.

"That's my name." He chuckles, standing up and gently placing a hand on her elbow.

"I know that." She replies with a sarcastic shake of her head, "But you're the one that's been leaving them every day?"

"Hmmmm... Maybe." He shrugs, guiding her into the booth and taking a seat next to her, "Don't you like them?"

"No, Andy, of course I do, it's just, I," she doesn't meet his eyes but instead talks towards the flower, "I'm surprised."

"Oh come on Sharon." He laughs, putting an arm around her and pulling her closer, "We've both been dancing around whatever _this_ is since the night of The Nutcracker. We never really talked about it, but I'm willing to give it a try, aren't you?"

"They're _roses_ Andy." She still doesn't look at him.

"I know that." He smiles slightly, suddenly unsure of the situation.

"_Roses_."

"Sharon what's wrong?" He looks at her worriedly and removes his arm from around her shoulder, "Please don't shut down on me."

"A _red_ rose."

"Look, Sharon, if this isn't what you want then I'm sorry." He pulls out his wallet and puts some money on the table before standing up and putting on his jacket, "I'll see you on Monday, Captain."

~oOo~

"Dammit, _idiot_!" He mumbles angrily to himself as he storms away from the restaurant, hot tears streaking down his cheeks, "It was _just_ a rose!"

"Andy!" She quickly runs around the corner and he turns at the sound of her voice, the two colliding, "It's just a rose." She sniffles with a laugh, placing both of her hands on his chest, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." He smiles, wrapping his arms around her waist as the cool evening wind twirls her hair around their faces.

"No. I overreacted." She buries her face in his chest and he can feel her tears soaking into his jacket, "A rose is a rose. It doesn't have to mean any more than that."

"Not if you don't want it to." Le leans down and kisses the top of her head, lingering there for a moment, "I was just trying to impress you."

"Andy you didn't have to do anything to impress me." She chuckles, shaking her head, "I think you just caught me a little off guard. And the roses?" She pulls out to smile at him, her eyes misty like the forest after a thunderstorm, "I _love_ them. I want to move forward, I just, I just don't know how. With Stroh out there somewhere and everything with Rusty and-"

"Sharon, it's okay." He places a kiss to her forehead, "I've waited this long, what's another year or two? I'll wait for you because I promise _I love you_. Maybe for right now, a rose is just a rose."

"Thank you Andy." She smiles and leans up, kissing his chin, "For taking care of me and helping me through all of this, and no matter what happens, I love you too."


End file.
